On Friday, January 17th, 2025 a handful of Dance Expressions Company Dancers traveled to the hills of Fredrick, Maryland to compete in the Mid Atlantic Dance Masters Chapter 17 Title Competition. The weekend began Friday afternoon, with all contestants learning opening numbers for Saturday night’s performance and participating in audition classes in Ballet, Modern, Tap and Jazz. The following morning contestants adorned business attire and spent a few minutes being interviewed by a panel of judges. The students fielded questions from personal resumes they had prepared and submitted. This invaluable experience was followed by the talent portion of the competition. Saturday afternoon and evening the dancers took to the stage of Middletown High School’s auditorium and performed their solo dances. The title winners were awarded on stage that evening, but the fun wasn’t over yet! The contestants, joined by fellow DE students and teachers, took workshop classes all day on Sunday taught by professional dancers and educators including; Mackenzie, McGrath, Blake Krapels, and Katelyn Oberg.

Congratulations are in order for all who participated in the weekend from Dance Expressions!

JUNIOR

Junior Miss Dance: Bailey Rea Burtis

Junior 2nd Runner-up: Grace Elizabeth Douglas

Junior Over-All Class Award: Grace Elizabeth Douglas

Junior Jazz: Bailey Rea Burtis

TEEN

Teen Miss 1st Runner-up: Lilly Ann Bailey

Teen Ballet: Lilly Ann Bailey

MISS

Miss 2nd Runner-up: Ava Wheeler,

Miss 3rd Runner-up: Mary Grace Bailey

The Wally Dashiell Ballet Award: Mary Grace Bailey

Miss Tap: Ava Wheeler,

Miss Jazz: Makayla Williams

Miss Interview: Ava Wheeler

Van Cummings Scholarship - toward Nationals

Grace Elizabeth Douglas

A special thank you is due to Ms. Pam Schrier, London Lobban and Drew Allen, who choreographed and taught an exceptional opening number for the petite and junior contestants.

Dance Expressions is proud to be a member of Mid Atlantic Dance Maters, Chapter 17 of Dance Masters of America, Inc. The organization is comprised of dance educators in Maryland, Washington DC, Virginia, Delaware, and Pennsylvania. With an emphasis on proper dance training, the organization provides, professional development for teachers, teaching certifications, dance workshops, as well as growth and performance opportunities for students. The Chapter 17 Title Winners and the Van Cummings Scholarship winner were granted scholarships to attend DMA’s national competition this summer held at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. We are thrilled for all the winners and beyond proud of how well all of our dancers represented Dance Expressions.

Congratulations to our Dance Expressions MADM Title Contestants!